


leave the light on

by saltandshore



Category: Iron Man (Movies), Marvel Cinematic Universe, Spider-Man (Tom Holland Movies), The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Canon Divergence - Avengers: Endgame (Movie), Drinking, Fluff, Fluff and Angst, M/M, Sort of Endgame compliant but also not, Temporary Character Death, Tony Stark Has A Heart, Tony Stark Needs a Hug, hand wavey science
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-07-07
Updated: 2019-07-07
Packaged: 2020-06-24 04:23:29
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,865
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19716139
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/saltandshore/pseuds/saltandshore
Summary: Everyone comes back from the Snap when the Avengers defeat Thanos... except for Peter.





	leave the light on

**Author's Note:**

> Hi creeps and peeps! So there is definitely some hand wavey science and timelines in this but who cares. I'm thinking of doing a follow up story to this of aftermath/when things settle down and probably to also supply us all with much needed ~~~~ tender lovemaking ~~~~. Let me know what you think and if you want it! xoxoxoxo gossip girl

**September 10th 2019 - One month after Peter’s 18th birthday**

“You’re sure about this?” Tony asks quietly, the two of them sitting face to face in the living room. The early morning light is streaming through the window, warming their skin. The city is coming to life outside. “You need to be absolutely sure, Pete.”

Peter just smiles, reaching out to take Tony’s hand.

“I told you,” he says quietly. “I’ve been waiting for years, Tony. I know what I want. Actually, I’m pretty sure _everyone_ knows what I want at this point. I haven’t exactly been subtle about it.”

Tony snorts. “True.”

Peter pinches his leg lightly. 

“I mean it,” he murmurs with a wry smile. “I want you. I want an ‘us’. I know it’s going to be hard sometimes, I mean - we both know that - but I know it’s right. We both deserve to be happy.”

“He has a point, you know,” Pepper smiles, breezing through the room. “Kiss him and get dressed, you’ll be late for the merger meeting.”

Tony laughs and does as he’s told. 

_ - _

**One month later. The Snap.**

“Tony, I don’t - I love you, I don’t want to go -”

“Hey, hey, you’re alright, you’re okay honey just - hang on, okay, don’t - Pete, I love you too you’ve got to hold on -”

Peter falls to ashes in his hands, and Tony’s heart along with him. 

-

**August 10th. Two years after The Snap.**

It’s painfully quiet, only the soft, sharp clink of cutlery on plates filling the space. It’s Peter’s birthday - or it would have been, anyways. 

“Tony, please eat,” Bruce says softly. 

Tony just takes another drink. “Not hungry.”

“Tony,” Bruce whispers, reaching out and squeezing the other man's hand. “This would break his heart, seeing you like this. It’s breaking  _ our _ hearts to see you this way. It’s been two years.”

“Yep,” Tony says, popping the ‘p’. His eyes are shiny as he downs the rest of his drink, standing. “Believe me, I’ve been counting the hours. He’d be twenty today.”

“Tony, please -” Steve tries. 

“Don’t want to hear it, Capsicle,” he snaps, pushing away from his chair roughly. “I told you before this all went down how to stop it. A suit of armour around the world, but you said no. With your fists, if I recall. And you -” he points to Steve. “ - you got Barnes back. So good for you. Not all of us were so lucky.”

Bucky looks resolutely down at the table, jaw working. They had all loved Peter - how could they not? They had all been happy when he and Tony had finally gotten together, too. But all of that was gone now. 

“I’m going to bed,” Tony shakes his head, scrubbing a hand down his face. “I’ll see you all tomorrow.”

“Tony -” Pepper murmurs, half standing.

Suddenly the lights flicker, drawing their attention. 

"What was that?" Sam asks, shoulders tensing.

“Sir,” FRIDAY says. “There’s… Peter Parker has just arrived in your lab.”

Everyone goes stock still, conversation dropping off into a petrified silence.

“What?” Tony asks, voice hard in a way that everyone knows covers his fear. “Did you - FRIDAY, repeat.”

“Peter Parker has quite literally appeared in your lab and is now in elevator 16 on route to floor 26,” she says. “He requested your location. He has still has Gold clearance.”

There’s a flood of noise in the room as everyone stands, chairs scraping back and cutlery being dropped. Everyone is on alert, too world weary to be hopeful. 

“Be on your guard,” Steve says lowly, the sound of running footsteps echoing in the hall.

The door suddenly swings open, and Tony drops his glass because - 

Peter is there. Peter is standing there, breathless from running and he’s older than when Tony last saw him, a young man instead of a teenager. There’s not a shadow of doubt in Tony’s mind that it’s him. It’s his Peter. 

“ _ Tony _ ,” he says, voice breaking and face crumbling as if he’s been holding himself together for too long and just can’t anymore. “I found a way back, it - I’m back, please tell me this is real -”

Tony isn’t sure who moves first, but suddenly they’re coming together, arms tight around each other as Peter’s knees go weak with a hiccuped sob. They both fall to the ground, but Tony hardly notices. 

“How - Pete -” Tony is whispering, eyes welling over as he presses his lips to every part of him he can reach. He feels like he’s shattering apart, holding the man in his arms impossibly tight. His broken heart, crumbled in his chest, aches. 

“I came back, I found a way home -” Peter whispers, cupping Tony’s face. “I came home, I never stopped trying, I couldn’t - I came home for you -”

He presses his lips to Tony’s, no hesitation, no waiting. It’s salty with tears and trembling with desperation but perfect in every way. He pulls back, hands so warm and whole and real on Tony’s face.

“You’ve got grey hair,” he says, a watery laugh leaving him as he cards a hand through it. 

“It’s been a rough couple of years,” Tony’s voice breaks as he swallows, eyes still desperately searching Peter’s face. “I can’t - please tell me this is real. Because I can’t - it’ll kill me, to lose you again.”

“It’s real,” Stephen says from the table, and suddenly, Tony remembers they aren’t alone. “He’s here.”

“Hi,” Peter laughs, looking as startled as Tony feels, wiping his tears.

Everyone suddenly moves at once, rushing to them and all but burying the two men in a collective hug.

“Don’t ever fucking do that again,” Nat says, sounding suspiciously emotional. “We’ve had to put up with Tony in self destruct mode for two years.”

Peter laughs, sniffling as he smiles up at her. “Sorry. I came as fast as I could.”

“How did you get back? Why didn’t you come back when everyone else did?” Sam asks, handing Peter a glass of water through the tangle of limbs. 

Tony, for his part, is still just staring at him, eyes shiny with still welling tears. 

“I made a mistake,” Peter says, voice thick with tears as he takes a sip of water. He’s still half sitting in Tony’s lap, the other man’s arms tight around him as everyone surrounds them, a heap of superheroes on the floor. “I - well, I tried to get back to you without waiting and I think I somehow went deeper into… wherever I was. So when everyone else came back, I was still stuck.”

Stephen makes a considering noise, nodding. “You traveled within the multiverse,” he murmurs. “I can’t believe you found a way back.”

Peter shrugs, giving them all a watery smile. He looks at Tony, hand gently cupping his jaw. “I really wanted to come home.”

Tony makes a soft, broken sound, eyes squeezing shut against the flood of relief that seems like it’s about to overtake him. 

“You must be starving,” Pepper says with a gentle smile, reaching out to squeeze Peter’s arm. “It’s been a long time since you’ve had a meal at home - why don’t we get you something to eat?”

“Food sounds so good,” Peter laughs, nodding. “Multiverse travel really takes it out of you.”

Everyone helps pull the two men up, Tony a little unsteady on his feet. 

“You alright?” Bruce asks him gently as Peter gets herded to the table, a plate full of food immediately put in front of him. 

Tony blinks at the other man, swallowing. “Yeah, yeah - I mean - you’d tell me if this wasn’t real, right? I’ve had dreams like this, and I’m not - I don’t want to wake up from this and realize he’s still gone.”

Bruce pulls him in for a tight hug. “It’s real, Tony. He’s back.”

Tony nods, blinking back tears as he fists his hands in the back of Bruce’s shirt. “Thank god,” he whispers, voice breaking. “I couldn’t -”

“I know, it’s okay,” Bruce murmurs. “We’ll just take it a day at a time, okay? Let’s get some food in you.”

He guides Tony to the table, sitting him next to Peter who had been watching them with a soft look on his face. 

“Have you eaten yet?” Peter asks, mouth half full with lasagna. “S’really good, I love lasagna -”

Tony suddenly remembers why they’d made lasagna in the first place, Peter’s favourite meal. 

“It’s your birthday,” he says dumbly, looking at him. “That’s - yeah. I - happy birthday.”

Peter smiles, wiping his mouth with a napkin.

“Thanks,” he squeezes his leg. “We can celebrate properly later. You guys made lasagna even though I wasn’t here?”

Rhodey shrugs. “We thought it might make us all feel better if we acknowledged it, you know? But it was just sort of sad.”

“Sort of?” Nat snorts. “Tony’s been halfway to drinking himself to death for two years.”

It’s obviously intended to come out as a joke, but Peter just looks startled by it, eyes wide and sad as he looks at Tony.

“Tony -” he murmurs. 

“It’s alright,” the older man says immediately, giving Peter a smile he hopes is convincing. He knows he probably looks like shit, but in his defense the last two years have been hell on earth. “I’m okay.”

Peter gives him a long look, the same one that Tony remembers from before - a ‘we’ll talk about this later’ look. God, he missed him.

He actually eats, hunger returning to him as Peter helps himself to a second and third heaping plate of food surrounded by his chosen family, all of them happily recapping him on random things he’s missed.

Eventually, he sits back in the chair, hands on his stomach. “I’m so full,” he groans happily. “And so tired. Can we go to bed?”

Tony nods, soft smile quirking his lips. “Yeah honey, we can go to bed.”

Everyone hugs Peter goodnight, promising to see him in the morning for breakfast and a proper birthday celebration. 

“I’ll call May in the morning,” Peter yawns as they walk towards Tony’s - their - bedroom. “I don’t have the energy tonight.”

Tony hums, hand warm on Peter’s lower back. “Fair,” he murmurs. “Selfishly, I’m happy to have you to myself for your first night home.”

Peter turns in the doorway of the bedroom, their chests bumping lightly. 

“I love you,” he whispers, hands coming up to gently cup Tony’s jaw. “I love you Tony, and every day I was away felt like a thousand years. I’m happy to have tonight for just us too.”

He leans up, kissing him properly, arms winding around his neck as Tony pulls him closer. 

“God, I missed you so much Pete,” Tony whispers against his lips, walking him back into the room and kicking the door closed behind him. “I was losing my mind. Everyone came back except for you and I couldn’t -”

He can feel himself getting choked up again, all the heartbreak he’s tried to bury finally bursting through. He presses his forehead to Peter’s, swallowing thickly. 

“I never want to live without you,” he whispers. “I can’t.”

“You’re never going to, not if I have any say in it,” Peter murmurs, kissing him again. “That’s a promise.”


End file.
